Disposal of dead bodies
in emergency conditions
WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia
This technical note provides guidance on the
disposal of dead bodies in emergency situations.
Where there are many fatalities, the collection and
disposal of bodies becomes an urgent need. This is
not usually due to any health-related risks, which are
likely to be negligible, but is important because of
the possible social and political impact and trauma.
So emergency relief teams should primarily be
concerned with the mental health of the community
and its need to carry out the cultural obligations and
traditions to take care of the dead, rather than
potential disease transmission.
Physical health risks
The widespread belief that corpses pose a risk of
communicable disease is wrong. Especially if death
resulted from trauma, bodies are quite unlikely to
cause outbreaks of diseases such as typhoid fever,
cholera, or plague, though they may transmit
gastroenteritis or food poisoning syndrome to
survivors if they contaminate streams, wells, or other
water sources.
Mass grave
WHO/SEARO Technical Notes for Emergencies
Mental health risks
The psychological trauma of losing loved ones and
witnessing death on a large scale is the greatest
cause for concern. It is therefore, important to collect
corpses as quickly as possible to minimise this
distress. It is, however, not necessary to rush their
burial or cremation. This does not allow for the
correct identification and record taking of the details
of the dead. Nor does it give the time for the
bereaved to carry out the ceremonial and cultural
practices, which would normally occur after a death.
Cultural and religious practice
Relief workers should respect the wishes of
the families and communities of the dead to
observe whatever cultural and religious
events are usually practised on death. This is
important in helping people deal with the
psychological impact of such disasters.
Encouraging stricken communities to carry
out traditional ceremonies and grieving
processes sets in motion the process of
disaster recovery.
Recovery of bodies
To minimise the distress caused by the sight of dead
bodies and the odours produced by their
decomposition, it is important to collect and remove
corpses to a collection point as quickly as possible.
Anyone in charge of a body recovery team should be
aware of the stress and trauma that team members
might feel, and provide support for this where
possible.
Mortuary services
It is important to provide secure morgue facilities
where there are casualties following an emergency,
where there is an epidemic, or if burial or cremation
Technical Note No. 8 1
 Disposal of dead bodies in emergency conditions
are likely to be delayed. A temporary mortuary site
should consist of a reception, a viewing room, a
storage chamber for bodies not suitable for viewing
and a room to store personal possessions and
records. The recommended capacity for a field
morgue is 10 bodies per 10,000 population. Bodies
should be stored at 4ºC, although this is rarely
possible. Mortuary staff should wear gloves and
protective clothing and should wash with disinfectant
soap. A complete list of mortuary requirements is
given below. Where this is not possible, the minimum
facilities are stretchers, leather gloves, rubber
gloves, overalls, boots, caps, soap, disinfectants and
cotton cloth. Following an emergency, when the
decision is made to close a temporary mortuary,
appropriate cleansing of the site should take place.
Equipment for mortuary services
in major disasters
Stainless steel postmortem tables or heavy
duty trestle tables covered with plastic
sheeting.
Wheeled trolleys for transporting bodies within
the mortuary.
Tarpaulin or plastic sheeting for the floor, if it is
not made of concrete.
Heavy-duty black plastic sheeting for
temporary screens.
Refuse bins and bags.
Cleaning materials – mops, buckets, cloths,
soap, towels.
Disinfectant and deodorizer.
Protective clothing and heavy-duty rubber
gloves.
Translucent plastic body bags 0.1 mm thick
and labels (if epidemic circumstances).
Wall charts to record progress or large poster
boards if there are no walls.
Revised list taken from Clark, Nicholls and
Gillespie (1992), cited in Wisner and Adams
(2002).
2 Technical Note No. 8
Identification of bodies
One of the major challenges of effective
management of dead bodies is their early
identification and tagging. Records of deaths and
funerals need to be kept to monitor mortality rates
and the incidence of disease and to be able to
provide timely, understandable and accurate
information to relatives of the dead.
Displaying bodies for identification needs space;
1000 bodies require over 2000m2. Identification can
be a lengthy process, especially where no personal
documentation is carried. When relatives and friends
of the dead are involved, it must be remembered that
visual identification is not scientific. In emergency
situations, this process is even more difficult as it
may be necessary for relatives to view numerous
bodies in the hope that they will make an
identification. This would normally be avoided. Where
possible, it is important to differentiate viewing a
body for identification from viewing a body for
grieving purposes and separate locations should be
provided.
Once identified, a death certificate should be issued,
an official record of death prepared and the body
tagged. With violent deaths, it is also important to
record the cause of death for possible future
investigation.
Body disposal
Burials in common graves and mass
cremations are rarely warranted and should
be avoided.
Burial
Burial is the preferred method of body disposal in
emergency situations unless there are cultural and
religious observances which prohibit it. The location
of graveyards should be agreed with the community
and attention should be given to ground conditions,
proximity to groundwater drinking sources (which
should be at least 50m) and to the nearest habitat
(500 m). An area of at least 1500m2 per 10 000
population is required. The burial site can be divided
to accommodate different religious groups if
necessary. Burial depth should be at least 1.5m
above the groundwater table, with at least a 1m
covering of soil. Burial in individual graves is
WHO/SEARO Technical Notes for Emergencies
 Disposal of dead bodies in emergency conditions

preferred and can be dug manually. If coffins are not
available, corpses should be wrapped in plastic
sheeting to keep the remains separate from the soil.
Burial procedures should be consistent with the
usual practices of the community concerned.
Cremation
There are no health advantages of cremation over
burial but some communities may prefer it for
religious or cultural reasons. Factors against it are
the amount of fuel required by a single cremation
(approx 300kg. wood) and the smoke pollution
caused. For this reason, cremation sites should be
located at least 500m downwind of dwellings. The
resultant ashes should be disposed of according to
the cultural and religious practice of the community.
purposes, which has a limited effect on infectious
pathogens, it is better to use chlorine solution or
other medical disinfectants. Any vehicles used to
transport bodies to burial or cremation sites during
epidemics should also be disinfected after use. It is
important to make communities aware of the risks of
contagion from practices such as traditional washing
of the dead. Also, any large gathering, including a
funeral, can be a way of spreading an epidemic.
Consequently, burial or cremation should take place
soon after death at a site near the place of death with
limits placed on the size of any gathering.
Cholera
Contact with the body leads to exposure to cholera
vibrios and requires careful washing using soap and
water.

Action in medical epidemics
Where possible, in the case of a medical epidemic,
body handling should be left to specialist medical
staff. Rather than using lime for disinfection
Ebola
Ebola is spread through bodily secretions such as
blood, saliva, vomit, urine and stools, but can easily
be killed with soap and water. Those dealing with the
disposal of bodies require high levels of protection.

WP Road
KEY:
V12 V16
BG Burial ground
Scrub woodland/
CC Cholero centre
CC V11 V15 small-scale farming
WP BG HP Health post
SCH School
V10
V14
SCH WP Water points
Dispensary
Swampy V1 Village 1
Buffer zone

HP V9 V13 ground
2.6km

BG
V20
BG
V4 V8
WP
V19 V23 V31
Buffer zone

WP
V3 V7
Buffer zone

V18 V22 V30 V33

V2 V6 WP SCH
Compound SCH
entrance
V1 V5 V17 V21 V29
WP WP WP

IFRC HP WP WP WP
compound Market 1 V27 V28
V24 V25 V26
Food Market 2
distribution centre 1.3km 1.2km 1.2km

Figure 1. Location of burial ground

WHO/SEARO Technical Notes for Emergencies Technical Note No. 8 3

 Disposal of dead bodies in emergency conditions
Typhus and plague
To avoid infestation with the fleas and lice that
spread these diseases, protective clothing should be
worn. Body bags should be used to store the bodies
prior to burial or cremation.
Volunteers remove bodies with extreme caution
World Health Organization
Regional Office for South-East Asia Phone:
Mahatma Gandhi Marg Fax:
New Delhi, 110002, E-mail:
India
This information has been prepared by WEDC
Author: J. Fisher Series Editor: R. A. Reed Design: G. McMahon Illustrations: R. J. Shaw Graphics: Ken Chatterton
Water, Engineering and Development Centre, Loughborough University, Leicestershire, UK.
Phone: +44 1509 222885 Fax: +44 1509 211079 E-mail: WEDC@lboro.ac.uk www.lboro.ac.uk/wedc
4 Technical Note No. 8
Important principles
Give priority to the living over the dead.
Dispel myths about health risks posed by
corpses.
Identify and tag corpses.
Provide appropriate mortuary services.
Reject unceremonious and mass disposal of
unidentified corpses.
Respond to the wishes of the family.
Respect cultural and religious observances.
Protect communities from the transmission
of medical epidemics.
Resources
Harvey, P., Baghri, S. and Reed, R.A. (2002)
Emergency Sanitation, Assessment and
Programme Design. WEDC: UK
Davis, J. and Lambert, R. (2002) Engineering in
Emergencies: a Practical Guide for Relief
Workers, (2nd. Edn.) ITDG Publishing: London.
Wisner, B. and Adams, J. (Eds.) (2002)
Environmental Health in Emergencies and
Disasters. WHO: Geneva
Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) (2003)
‘Unseating the Myths Surrounding the
Management of Cadavers’, Disaster newsletter,
No. 93, October 2003. PAHO: USA
(+91-11) 2337-0804
(+91-11) 2337-8438
wsh@whosea.org
http://www.whosea.org
WHO/SEARO Technical Notes for Emergencies